Facebook sofa prankster goes viral

A Facebook prankster who tricked a young mum into sawing her tatty sofa into three pieces when he saw it for sale has become an internet sensation.

Joe Cordingley, from Poulton, contacted mother-of-one Emma Taylor after he spotted the second-hand couch for sale on a local buy and sell site.

The 21-year-old then posted humiliating screengrabs of his messages to to Ms Taylor, which showed how he talked her into chopping it up to fit into his boot, covering it with ketchup, and taking a picture of herself with a saw.

Mr Cordingley said: ‘The sofa was really grotty and had stains all over it, and to be honest I couldn’t see anyone genuinely wanting to buy it’

The post went viral on Tuesday and has since had more than 81,000 likes and 68,000 shares - and hit the national headlines.

He added: ‘I felt a bit sorry for her trying to flog it, but fair enough; everyone’s got to make some money.

‘I wanted her to chop it to bits and then spray it with ketchup to make the house look like a murder scene.

‘I know it seems a bit harsh, but she was going along with it. It’s not like I held a gun to her head.

‘I said I wanted it to be a three-piece suite and needed it cut into smaller bits so I could fit it in my car.

‘The conversation just progressed from there and a few hours later she send me the pictures of it in bits. I couldn’t believe it.’

He saw the sofa for sale after one of his friends shared Ms Taylor’s post from a Blackpool buy and sell group on his timeline on Monday evening.

He then began a series of private messages to Ms Taylor, from St Annes, before posting the outcome online later than night.